The will of the American people, expressed through their unsolicited
suffrages, calls me before you to pass through the solemnities preparatory
to taking upon myself the duties of President of the United States for
another term. For their approbation of my public conduct through a period
which has not been without its difficulties, and for this renewed expression
of their confidence in my good intentions, I am at a loss for terms adequate
to the expression of my gratitude. It shall be displayed to the extent
of my humble abilities in continued efforts so to administer the Government
as to preserve their liberty and promote their happiness.

So many events have occurred within the last four years which have necessarily
called forth--sometimes under circumstances the most delicate and painful--my
views of the principles and policy which ought to be pursued by the General
Government that I need on this occasion but allude to a few leading considerations
connected with some of them.

The foreign policy adopted by our Government soon after the formation
of our present Constitution, and very generally pursued by successive Administrations,
has been crowned with almost complete success, and has elevated our character
among the nations of the earth. To do justice to all and to submit to wrong
from none has been during my Administration its governing maxim, and so
happy have been its results that we are not only at peace with all the
world, but have few causes of controversy, and those of minor importance,
remaining unadjusted.

In the domestic policy of this Government there are two objects which
especially deserve the attention of the people and their representatives,
and which have been and will continue to be the subjects of my increasing
solicitude. They are the preservation of the rights of the several States
and the integrity of the Union.

These great objects are necessarily connected, and can only be attained
by an enlightened exercise of the powers of each within its appropriate
sphere in conformity with the public will constitutionally expressed. To
this end it becomes the duty of all to yield a ready and patriotic submission
to the laws constitutionally enacted and thereby promote and strengthen
a proper confidence in those institutions of the several States and of
the United States which the people themselves have ordained for their own
government.

My experience in public concerns and the observation of a life somewhat
advanced confirm the opinions long since imbibed by me, that the destruction
of our State governments or the annihilation of their control over the
local concerns of the people would lead directly to revolution and anarchy,
and finally to despotism and military domination. In proportion, therefore,
as the General Government encroaches upon the rights of the States, in
the same proportion does it impair its own power and detract from its ability
to fulfill the purposes of its creation. Solemnly impressed with these
considerations, my countrymen will ever find me ready to exercise my constitutional
powers in arresting measures which may directly or indirectly encroach
upon the rights of the States or tend to consolidate all political power
in the General Government. But of equal and, indeed of incalculable, importance
is the union of these States, and the sacred duty of all to contribute
to its preservation by a liberal support of the General Government in the
exercise of its just powers. You have been wisely admonished to "accustom
yourselves to think and speak of the Union as of the palladium of your
political safety and prosperity, watching for its preservation with Jealous
anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it
can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first
dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the
rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various
parts." Without union our independence and liberty would never have been
achieved; without union they never can be maintained. Divided into twenty-four,
or even a smaller number, of separate communities, we shall see our internal
trade burdened with numberless restraints and exactions; communication
between distant points and sections obstructed or cut off; our sons made
soldiers to deluge with blood the fields they now till in peace; the mass
of our people borne down and impoverished by taxes to support armies and
navies, and military leaders at the head of their victorious legions becoming
our lawgivers and judges. The loss of liberty, of all good government,
of peace, plenty, and happiness, must inevitably follow a dissolution of
the Union. In supporting it, therefore, we support all that is dear to
the freeman and the philanthropist.

The time at which I stand before you is full of interest. The eyes of
all nations are fixed on our Republic. The event of the existing crisis
will be decisive in the opinion of mankind of the practicability of our
federal system of government. Great is the stake placed in our hands; great
is the responsibility which must rest upon the people of the United States.
Let us realize the importance of the attitude in which we stand before
the world. Let us exercise forbearance and firmness. Let us extricate our
country from the dangers which surround it and learn wisdom from the lessons
they inculcate.

Deeply impressed with the truth of these observations, and under the
obligation of that solemn oath which I am about to take, I shall continue
to exert all my faculties to maintain the just powers of the Constitution
and to transmit unimpaired to posterity the blessings of our Federal Union.
At the same time, it will be my aim to inculcate by my official acts the
necessity of exercising by the General Government those powers only that
are clearly delegated; to encourage simplicity and economy in the expenditures
of the Government; to raise no more money from the people than may be requisite
for these objects, and in a manner that will best promote the interests
of all classes of the community and of all portions of the Union. Constantly
bearing in mind that in entering into society "individuals must give up
a share of liberty to preserve the rest," it will be my desire so to discharge
my duties as to foster with our brethren in all parts of the country a
spirit of liberal concession and compromise, and, by reconciling our fellow-citizens
to those partial sacrifices which they must unavoidably make for the preservation
of a greater good, to recommend our invaluable Government and Union to
the confidence and affections of the American people.

Finally, it is my most fervent prayer to that Almighty Being before
whom I now stand, and who has kept us in His hands from the infancy of
our Republic to the present day, that He will so overrule all my intentions
and actions and inspire the hearts of my fellow-citizens that we may be
preserved from dangers of all kinds and continue forever a united and happy
people.